


A New Year in 'Nam

by valis2



Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-07 23:21:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/70312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valis2/pseuds/valis2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick and Cody ring in the new year in camp.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Year in 'Nam

**Author's Note:**

> A few references to people and places from Lay Your Hands On Me and One Punch, but you do not have to have read either of them to get this. Also, [this image](http://www.ktroop.com/gal1&2p11.html) helped me set the tone.

The mess hall is crowded. Most of the enlisted men have gathered here, handing around paper cups filled with god-knows-what. Cody takes a sip and realizes it's only one step away from being used to strip paint off walls, and he leaves the rest untouched. The new year is only an hour away, and guys are getting drunk, lurching into each other, laughing and carrying on.

Harris is next to him, an older medic, a guy who saw Korea and is unmoved by anything he sees here. Harris is telling him story after story about two wars, most involving canned peaches and foxholes. Cody nods in the right places but he's a million miles away.

This is his second tour, and Nick's, too, and the second new year they'll spend in 'Nam. Cody holds onto the promise that their next year will be spent at home. It's the only way he can get through the days here, the long, horrible days of boredom and terror. Harris has segued into a story about Lenny going into the jungle and coming back riding a water buffalo, and Cody wonders if there's anyone left alive who doesn't know a Lenny story.

He wishes Nick were with him. But they've both decided they're hanging around too much together, and they need to be careful. Only six months left. So Nick's gone off with Chase and Cody wandered into the mess hall. It's dark out, that black jungle dark, barely lightened by a brooding moon, and he's glad to be inside a tent, with lights and men and noise and the soothing presence of the living.

Harris has come to the rousing conclusion, the water buffalo nearly trampling Lenny, and Cody laughs heartily at the punchline. Inside, though, he's tired. Tired of Lenny. Tired of the dank interior of tents. Tired of the heat, the mosquitoes, the hellish sound of bombardment, the smell of rank cigarette smoke.

"Hey! Fight!"

Everyone turns, and then guys are running out of the tent to see, overturning chairs in their haste. Cody gets up, too, leaving Harris behind looking sanguine as he lights another cigarette and stares off into space.

It's rained for a week, and everything is mud. There are two guys going at it right in front of the barracks, and everyone's crowding around, slipping in the mud to get a better look.

Cody's heart lurches into his chest. One of the brawlers is Nick.

The other is Joe, a big burly guy from the South, a guy who's made trouble for them both in the past. He's at least three inches taller than Nick, and a good eighty pounds heavier, and he's built like a tank. When they're out on patrol he carries the M-60. He's strong as hell, with a long reach.

Nick's faster, though, and he's definitely been in a few street fights. It's obvious from the way he moves, and the way he jumps right back up after Joe knocks him down with a heavy punch to the face.

A shrill whistle, and then it breaks up as quickly as it formed. Cody looks up to see an officer approaching, and when he looks back, Joe's trying to get back to his feet, and Nick's--gone.

So much for spending some time apart. Cody gives his best confused-and-uninvolved look to everyone nearby, and slinks off. He wanders around the barracks, stands and waits to make sure no one's following, and then takes off for Nick.

The helicopters are silent and empty, and the dark is thicker here. Someone patrols occasionally, but, being New Year's Eve, he's probably in the mess hall, and Cody isn't worried about being caught. He hears a faint noise, an exhale, and turns back to the Huey he just passed. In the low light he sees a pair of boots hanging out the bay doors, and he knows that it's Nick.

"Hey," he says, sitting down next to him. In the scant moonlight Nick looks bad, dark blood congealing down the front of his shirt, but at least his face is clean. His cheek is swollen. Nick doesn't reply.

Cody puts out a hand, feeling how Nick trembles under his fingers, and pulls him close, burying his face in Nick's hair, inhaling the scent of smoke and sweat. Nick clutches at him, makes a choked noise.

"It's okay," soothes Cody. "Six months, buddy, just six months, and we'll be home, no more mortars, no more mess food--"

"No more mud," says Nick faintly.

"Sure," says Cody. There's plenty of mud back home, but it's not the same.

They're both silent for a long moment, Cody stroking his back and murmuring more promises and love. They both start when the fireworks begin, red, white and blue flowers bursting, and even though they're over in a second, Cody feels a chill. Sure, they're great--and who doesn't want to celebrate a new year, a year none of them thought they'd see--but it's risky to set off stuff like that. The jungle is always watching. He shudders and drinks in Nick's scent again.

"Happy New Year," says Nick softly.

"Happy New Year," repeats Cody. He shifts Nick a little in his arms, kisses his lip, tasting blood. "It'll be okay. We'll get home."

"Yeah," says Nick, not sounding convinced. He sits upright, one hand reaching up to massage his jaw.

Cody remembers the fight. "What the hell possessed you to go after Joe?"

Nick frowns. "He went after Beaner."

"Again? Damn." Cody exhales. The scrawny kid from Boston just keeps getting picked on.

"He was running across camp and tripped and ran into Joe. I tried to get Joe to laugh it off, but then he got right into Joe's face and told him he wasn't scared of him." Nick's hand drops to his lap. "And then Joe threw a punch, and I just--man, I couldn't let it go."

"I know." Cody pulls him close again, and he can feel Nick's warm breath on his neck. There are a thousand things he wishes he could say, but the war's taken his words, and so he just holds him, lets his hands do the saying. The old year has fallen into the past, and he can't tell if the new one will be dark or light. He only knows that he needs Nick more than ever, needs his strong arms, the warmth in his eyes, the determination that keeps him upright and moving forward. He needs it all, and he knows that Nick's good for it, that he'll do anything for him, for them, and that eases his heart more than anything else has in this godforsaken jungle.

The fireworks are done. The night is at its bleakest; Cody knows they should get back to the barracks and bunk down for the night, but Nick shows no sign of moving, and so he sits and holds him, listens to the steady rhythm of his breathing.

Cody closes his eyes. Six months. Just six more months.


End file.
